[pct-l] Lone Pine - worth a stop?

[ROYROBIN@xxxxxxx (ROYROBIN@xxxxxxx)]

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In a message dated 4/2/03 5:38:47 PM Pacific Standard Time,
numbrrrs@hotmail.com writes:

> what about Lone Pine? And what
> is the best route to exit to reach Lone Pine?

Lone Pine was a treat in '97.  The Dow Villa Hotel was the hiker hangout
then, and probably still is the cheapest & most interesting place to stay.
That's the original hotel, not the motel next door.

We hiked northbound to Crabtree Meadow, then over Whitney and down to Whitney
Portal where a hitch into town was easy.  The "99 switchbacks" were still
snow-covered on June 20th and we butt-bombed about 1,500 feet down the slope
from Trail Crest.  After resupplying in LP, we hired a ride back to Horseshoe
Meadow and redid the trail from there back north to Crabtree to avoid the
long hike back up over Whitney with full packs.  As a dividend, we got to
hike the very scenic upper Rock Creek basin instead of redoing a rather
ordinary stretch of the PCT.